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Athletes’ Parade Interviews Part 3

The third part to our Athletes Parade day interviews. Today we have a father and his two daughters, and three people who travelled from Hertfordshire, Essex & Bromley.

Interviewee/s: Angus & daughters, Tilly & Ophelia

From: Near Leatherhead

Angus and daughters

Which Olympic/Paralympic moment has stuck with you the most?

Angus: ‘In the paralympics, so many feats of excellence, saw the one legged athlete (Iliesa Delana) doing the highjump, I thought that was incredible. What else, the swimmer without any arms, again fantastic, they’ve all achieved brilliance. In the Olympics itself I think you can’t overestimate what Mo Farah did. Also Jessica Ennis in front of the home crowd where you thought she might crumble, but yeah on the whole there are so many different wonderful moments.

Tilly:With the Paralympics, probably wheelchair basketball swimming or athletics, and then in the Olympics, the swimming and the athletics.

Ophelia: I think everything will probably stick with me the , but I liked the athletics , the swimming and the basketball the most in the Paralympics.’

What’s the most important message we can take from the games?

Angus: ‘For ourselves with the Paralympics I think it’s opened people’s minds to people with disability that they are capable of doing so many great things. With the Olympics I think, well we’re hoping that at some stage someone may come through, she’s a bit of a swimmer, and Ophelia does athletics, I think they will get that legacy they’ve been looking for. I think it’s just to try your hardest and then the harder you work then the more you’ll get the rewards’

What legacy would you like to see as a result of the Olympics?

Angus: ‘Nationally well I’m just reading that they’re taking 2 years to reorganise the park and hopefully a football team won’t get hold of the stadium and ruin it and take the track down obviously that’s not supposed to happen, as part of the agreement, the Velodrome, the 50 meter pool, you’ve got all those legacies there and i think we have managed to inspire at least these girls beside me. Hopefully they’ll stick at it, seeing what others can achieve. I mean have you ever seen a million people turn up to watch footballers going down a street? No.’

Interviewee/s: Karen, Jenny & James

From: Hertfordshire, Essex & Bromley

(No photo by request)

Which Olympic/Paralympic moment has stuck with you the most?

James: ‘Oscar getting beaten.’

Jen: ‘Probably the same.’

Karen: ‘David Weir winning his 4 golds.’

What’s the most important message we can take from the games?

Karen: ‘Being open minded and not taking things at first value, so being open minded about situations and accepting everybody for what they are.’

Jen: ‘Just to be positive that everyone can do something and do it well.’

James: ‘There’s a lot more depth than what we see in front of us.’

What legacy would you like to see as a result of the Olympics:

Karen: ‘I think the atmosphere and community feel and general togetherness that it’s had, that certainly everybody’s behind Great Britain and the flag and it’s just brought everybody together and happy. So I’d like it to create a happy feeling really, and to keep that through whatever we’re doing.’

James: ‘I’d like to see society maintain the momentum that has built up.’

Would you like to say anything else?

Karen: ‘Proud to be British both with the Olympics but mainly with the Paralympics, because I think it’s really widened people’s perceptions and understanding of people’s disabilities and what they can do.’

Jen: ‘We should be proud to be British.’

James: ‘I think we’ve done a great job and people have been great all round.’